OK. I had a beautiful weekend this weekend. On Friday, I got on the boat at 11:50 and headed to Santorini. It was beautiful. We stopped at the island of Naxos on the way, and I got to take a few photos from the boat.

Then we headed to the island of Ios, which is supposedly the party island around here. From there we headed straight to Santorini. It was one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen. It used to be a huge whole island, but when the volcano blew it apart in 1,700 BC, it turned into one ring and a few smaller islands. The sides of the island are sheer cliffs that go up probably about 1,000 feet, and there are only a few places that there are beaches! The beaches are all black and red sand and rocks because of all of the volcanic activity. We got there in the afternoon and we watched the sun set over the island’s caldera, it was beautiful. I also quickly found a really good place to get a suvlaki. We then talked and sat around drinking good wine and eating good olives. We found a great hotel to stay in that was only 12 Euro per person per night. It overlooked the water on the other side (not the caldera), and it was just fabulous. I was very happy to be there.

On the three hour ferry ride on the way over, I ran into some people that had been backpacking Europe for some time. One was a girl from Canada. She went to school in the south of France for a semester, and when it was done in December, she trekked around Europe from then on. It actually sounded really cool. She ended up being my roommate, and it was totally awesome because she gave me really good travel advice and reinstilled in me my feeling of being a unique human. She told me that she thought that there was something different about me when she met me. It was really nice to hear from someone else.

I got some really great travel tips from her, and she invited me to come and visit her in her home in BC (Victoria) when I got back. As I have other friends up there, I am going to do it! I also met a man from Australia that lives in London because he wants to travel. It was very nice to meet him, he was a good person. There was also a man from Michigan there. He has been traveling for months, and he is going to finish up on June 8th. We are heading to Prague at around the same time, so we may meet up again there, and I think that would be awesome!

On Saturday, we went to the museum there. We looked at artwork that had been there since before the explosion in the 7th century BC. It was pretty amazing stuff. I loved it. I am totally amazed at the Minoan culture. I am going to copy one of their paintings. You can find out a little bit about it at this website. http://www.santorini.gr-santorini.com/museums/prehistoric_museum.htm We then went to a black sand beach, and we fell asleep in the sun for several hours.

After that, we went walking around and I took some photos. We walked down deep into the caldera, and it was interesting. I got some really good photos taken at night. This morning, we were going to go to a very important site which was where they were actually doing the excavations of the prime town from 1700 BC, but apparently it is closed for the next 18 months, so we didn’t get to go there! Instead, everyone in the group went their own separate way. Many people went shopping, but I went to find the donkeys that people ride into the caldera (the center of the old volcano). I wanted to ride one, but I was looking to actually take some photos. However, some guy talked me into paying 3 Euro for a ride. It was awesome. Actually, it was kind of interesting. I rode a donkey down the 600 steps into the caldera. It was fun. However, when I got down there, I knew that I was going to have to walk back up because I didn’t want to pay to go back up. It was really dumb for me to do, but at least I KNEW that I was being gypped. I ended up having a lot of fun and walking up. I took lots of photos of the donkeys along the way. It was a real dream come true.

As soon as I had done that, I was tired, but I walked up to another museum and looked at some of the most breathtaking art ever. I love the ancient vases with war scenes painted on them, and I am going to make a copy of them in one of my paintings! This is where I went. http://www.santorini.gr-santorini.com/museums/archaeological_museum.htm

After that, I was tired and it was time to come home, so I spent time not taking photos, but walking around and shopping. I loved it. I bought nothing, but I got to be a tourist for a while, and it was really fun. Then we came home. I am so glad to be back in Paros. Not that I didn’t love Santorini, but I know Paros so much better, and it less full of people, and it is just one of my permanent homes. Time for me to get back to work. Chris

Hello, It’s been a while since I’ve written, but I’m going to try to describe what’s been going on here as accurately as possible. I will also try to write more, but I get really into describing things and such, and by the time I am done working (sometimes at 2AM) I’m exhausted and ready to just fall over in hopes that I can make it to my next class at 8AM. Though that sounds like torture, it is exactly the correct balance for me in life, and I am enjoying it more than I can possible use written words to describe.

First of all, I must say that “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is as accurate a movie on the Greek lifestyle as can me made. I laugh every day at things that come up that are so accurately described in that movie. I just can’t tell you how amazingly funny it is. And the name Niko is everywhere. I was at a festival last week and everywhere I turned there was a person named Niko! Anyway, if you want to get an idea (culturally) of what I am getting here check it out. It’s accurate right down to the lamb roasting on Easter HMMMMM (can’t wait). Speaking on the food line, I must divert to talk about food. I must say that about 80% of the outside of class conversations that I have involve food. 1.) good ways to make it, 2.) good ways to eat it, 3.) good things to eat 4.) good places to eat, 5.) the general goodness of it and so on. I suggest incorporating Greek food 100% into your diet. It is hard to get used to at first, but it is much worth it. And I must say that the Greeks are actually some of the healthiest people on the planet (at least they were before things like Cheetos became available here). The first two ingredients in every Greek meal are 1.) Olive oil and 2.) Garlic. Without those, you are completely lost. Together, they make a purely Greek and delectable starter that is the beginning of any meal. Many Greeks consume 50 kilos of olive oil a year (note that a kilo is 2.2 pounds). That said, I do miss tacos, and they are so rare here that I was talking to a Greek the other day about them, and they were completely unknown to her. Needless to say, I explained it in terms of pita bread and lamb! I’m not kidding! I have had unforgettable experiences in food since eating here. First of all, there are the cheapest food item. Suvlake’s. I love them. They are a baked, warm pita bread with your choice of lamb, pork and chicken inside. Then there are your choices of vegetables (never get them with onions). On top of that, there is this stuff called Tutziki. Needless to say, I will be eating a lot of them when I am at home. Tutziki is yoghurt with garlic and cucumbers. Disgusting sounding, I know, but actually quite enjoyable! I got to eat musaka (please excuse all spellings, as I only know them with the Greek alphabet, which doesn’t always translate) the other day. I loved it, and I will be eating it forever.

Needless to say, I have been doing some cooking at home myself. Every day after my afternoon classes and before my evening classes, I make pesto spaghetti (I love this stuff), bread fried in olive oil with cheese melted on top, fried zucchini and fried cheese. I look forward to this part of my day every day, and I wish that it would last forever! I do need to expand my horizons a little though, but it’s rather hard to do with one frying pan, one plate, a fork, a butter knife and a spoon! My friend, when she was here, scared me by telling me that the ketchup was really bad (which it is), but the other food more than makes up for it. And all of that isn’t even starting to talk about the pastries that I get at the bakery. I like to just go sit in front of the bakery and smell it. If I know someone going, I will walk with them, and yes, I am guilty of eating a bugatza, tiropita, milopita, croissant, or chocolate croissant every once in a while!

On the art side of life, I am making some pretty incredible breakthroughs in all areas at once, and it is overwhelming to me (in a good way) every day when I am in class. I realize how much I have progressed, and I am just so happy to know that I am making such incredible progress. I still wonder what I am going to look like on the other side, but I know that if I progressed no more at this point that I would be incredibly happy.

This week, I worked with my photography teacher with some personal one-on-one time again, and we are starting to understand what it is that I am doing that I shouldn’t be doing, and my knowledge and professional quality of products is coming way up. I was getting some good photos before I came here, but they were by accident, I can now produce more consistent results (at least with a little more practice). I am going to study many areas of photography while I am here. I have already done some work with night photography and I have also done some work in the studio. I plan to do many still lifes and also to do some portraits. I have pretty much decided that I am going to do a series of architecture, and I am going to try to get about 15 prints to go in my portfolio along that line before I leave.

In digital photography, I have taken almost 2,000 photos, and there are more to come. I have some final photos that when I print, will go in my portfolio. I am so excited about them. I am pretty dedicated and excited to set up my own studio at home. I may lose the way of the darkroom in some ways when I am complete. I feel that transition here. Most importantly, I have gained the confidence here to be able to work as a photographer. It has been a dream of mine, but I was sure I couldn’t do it. I now see it happening right before my eyes, and

I am excited about it. I know that I can make money doing it, and I am very excited! I am currently working on 5 paintings, and I have three more in the works. I have two that are completely done, and just waiting to be taken off their stretchers to come home for you. I hear that I am making incredible progress in painting, and I really feel that way too. Especially considering that I was scared of it when I came here, and now every spare second I have is in my studio. What a wonderful art form.

I have also had the great pleasure of working with one of the world’s mosaic masters. She had done quite a bit of study on art, and she is this incredible artist. I admire her so much, and I understand her on so many levels. She is teaching me more than I could ever ask to know, and my mosaic is coming out beautifully. I plan to do more when I come home, as commissions in the area are possible. I saw a mosaic that she is working on for a church. She has spent probably more than a thousand hours on it, and I just adore it. I will have to take picture of it to show to you!

I also attacked meter the other day and was able to write a poem using perfect meter and rhyming. My writing instructor was impressed, and I have tackled yet another area that was scary to me! I have officially completed the Odyssey, which is one of the most incredible books in history, I love it! I am now reading the poems of a Greek poet from the very same island that I am on. I visited the cave he used to write in and he is credited with the invention of iambic pentameter. I love the poems, and we will be doing Sappho next! I am going to tackle the Iliad next. I am very much so excited about that. I know through what I am developing so much here, and I LOVE it every day.

Last night, I worked with a good Greek friend of mine Ageliki on taking some studio photos. She is just incredible, and she promises to give me some Greek recipes. I hope to see her married soon, as that’s what all Greeks want, and she wants to come to America at some point, so you may meet her. These are the things that I am doing. Going any further into specific would drive you and me crazy with more and more pages of my rambling writing.

The next and most exciting hi-light is that in about an hour I will departing on a boat for the island of Santorini. I explained all about it earlier, but I am so excited about taking photos there, I know that I will come back with a memory cards stuffed and full! So on that note, I am signing off until I get back on Sunday night!

Adoringly, Chris

P.S. If you want to get an even greater understanding of where I am, you can go to the following websites. www.parosweb.com (many of the places listed on the website I go to frequently) http://www.paros-online.com/index.htm (the most accurate site I know of) http://www3.cybex.gr/beachreport/camlive/paros/ ( a live camera view of the port that I see more than 3 times a day)!

I am going to go to Santorini this weekend. Here is some more data on it. It is the most popular island in Greece. I fact, during he summer season, the whole island is so packed that you can’t even walk in the streets! Almost all photos of Greece the world over were taken on this island. I am told that it is just incredible beautiful. It is not that far away from here about 2 hours by boat. It is going to be beautiful this weekend. It is pretty much considered to be the island of Atlantis because it sank at about the right time 2,000 BC. The island is actually a volcano. It used to be really big, but it exploded so hard that it imploded, and it is now just a rim around it. The blast caused tsunamis and earthquakes really badly. I think the blast was about 10,000 times greater than that of Mt. St. Helens, and that may be an under exaggeration! There is a museum there where they just dug down into the ash and whole towns were preserved like in Pompeii. However, there are no human bodies. The people were smart enough to get off the island before it exploded. It’s got castles and frescos and everything. Just pretty exciting I think.

Here are a few hi-lights from the past couple of days. I went to Anti Paros on the boat with a friend that I have. He is a Greek (actually from Cyprus) and he took me and four of my friends to this Greek celebration. At first, it was really boring because they gave an hour and a half speech on the history of Cyprus, but in the end it ended up being really cool because I was able to see the Greek dancers. They came out at the end, and they were beautiful. You can see the Middle Eastern influence in the costumes, but the people looked so happy when they were dancing. They were so totally lively and happy looking.

I really, really loved seeing them. I was able to take a few pictures, but my battery died on my camera, so I only got some, but they are really good, I think. I have had a bit win on working with my camera. I know it is very hard to master cameras, and most people don’t need to worry about settings and what they do, but trying to get super professional products out of it that will require the least amount of work and editing while at the computer is actually really hard.

This weekend, I worked really really hard doing things, and I think that I’m becoming very fluent in the language of my digital camera. I fall more and more in love with it every day, as it has allowed me to do things that I would never have been able to do. My photography has improved in such a short time being here just from being out taking photos all the time seeing how things and lighting work and everything. It’s just amazing! It is also teaching me more and more each day how my film camera works, but I also have to be able to recognize the differences between the two.

I took some very incredible professional photos this weekend, and I am working hard on them now trying to perfect them so that I can take more and more and more photos and get perfect ones by the end. I think that the staff here are really interested in my work and my progress. I love having John be excited about something that I am doing on my photography. I consider a compliment from him a real compliment.

Though, I have not yet been able to get a compliment from my Photography Instructor, so we’re working together more and more to get things to work out. In fact, I got a lesson today on what I did this weekend with my film camera, and then I am going to have a private lesson tomorrow to learn how to take the photos that I EXACTLY want. I’m so excited because she is so brilliant, and this will mean that I will actually getting really good things with her help.

Then, I can move on to getting some prints out, as I’ve been having a hard time with that lately! We’re slowly sorting me out. I’m not pretending that it’s easy, because it definitely isn’t, but I am starting to learn that there is a lot to learn that that I just need to take it slow.

I’m in good hands though. I was going to go on a trip to two beautiful islands tomorrow, Delios and Mykonios. However, the winds are so heavy and the cold is so bitter that it was cancelled. We were going to have cheap tickets on a chartered boat and be able to see both islands for very cheap, but it doesn’t look like that will happen. I’m getting very excited though for this weekend when I go to Santorini! ALRIGHT!

I started a painting today, and it was really exciting. I now have so many going and I totally love it. I am going to do a boat next and then I am going to start painting the way that Boticelli did. I think that I’m going to try to do an exact copy of one of his paintings using the materials that he did. That will be so exciting. I had a writing class tonight and I really got some help with one of my pieces. I loved it. I’m excited! I have mosaic early tomorrow morning, and that should be really good. I love that studio and that woman. It’s such an incredible thing. I also have literature tomorrow.

I will finish reading the Odyssey tonight before I go to bed. I only have 10 more pages. I’m excited because he finally made it home, met his son and slept with his wife. He just now has to really wrap up the story. I am then going to read the Iliad. What better place to do it than in Greece with a professional literature professor and Greek translator. So that’s what’s up with me.

Ok. So as the time goes on, it gets harder and harder for me to write things and be marveled as all of the cool things that amazed me in the beginning have just become a part of my everyday life here. That’s such an amazing thing too. I do have many good things to write about, but almost all of my time is sucked into art projects that you will see when I come home. So, I’m going to have to find new things to focus on!

On Thursday, I went to my mosaic class again. The woman is absolutely wonderful, and I officially started to work on my mosaic. I laid about 10 stones in the two hours that I was there! I am told that it is a hard thing at first, and I also chose the most difficult part of the mosaic to start on. It is in the shape of a fish, and it is about the size of A 4 paper. That’s pretty cool. I think I’m going to use the colors pink, green and stark white. It is definitely a beautiful art form. I am going to have to show you pictures of some of the mosaics that I’ve fallen in love with throughout the Christian world!

Then I went to my drawing class. I left early though because I had set up a personal appointment to go out with my photo instructor to find what holes were stopping me from creating the best photos possible. It was a really good experience though because I now have a good understanding of what I was doing wrong in many areas. She showed me some cool places and we took some photos of them. I’m starting to get the hang of black and white photography again, and I’m very glad that we went out and did that. She bought me a cup of tea and we talked about how photography has shaped our world, and I see how I can get some work as a photographer when I come back to the States!

After lunch, I went to painting. I was getting the idea that I wasn’t ever going to be able to master the art, and I was totally ready to give up, but I took my painting (that no one could make any sense of) and I went to my studio and mixed the colors and really dug in. When I emerged back from my painting trance, I realized that I actually did know how to paint, and it was wonderful. Jane (the painting instructor) came down and was completely amazed at how much progress I had made. She showed me some techniques I could use to make the painting better, and we applied them as much as we could, until the painting as too wet to do anything else with. Then I got really brave
and started to fix many errors that I saw in the second painting I had done here. I got a really good idea of how to get them fixed, and I put the first layer on them to fix them. I may be able to complete that painting totally by Tuesday! That will mean that I have two paintings totally done! Even after that, I got the sketches done and on the canvas of the next painting that I am going to start. It is a totally abstract piece, but I love it, and I think that with some work it is going to turn out to be OK!

Then I went to writing, but I have nothing exciting to report there, as I didn’t write anything for the class!

Yesterday was Friday. We usually go on hikes on Fridays, but the weather here is very terrible. Not just some clouds and chill, but we went from having warm south winds from the Sahara desert to chilly cold winds from the north. I KNOW I’m going to be using my jacket when I get to Prague! I was wearing shorts and skirts, and now I have two jackets on with insulated pants and leg warmers. BUURRRRRR. I can understand the trials that the ancient Greeks had with sailing and the winds. The wind here isn’t just a slight blow that goes one direction or another. Sometimes it is like that, but many times it blows very hard. The reason I didn’t get back to write an email again last
night was because after I was walking back from our after dinner chat the wind was so heavy that I almost wasn’t able to use my entire body force against it. I almost couldn’t get home. And today, as I walked pretty far in the rain to get some groceries, my clothes wouldn’t stay on. Not in the cheesy, romantic way, but that the wind was actually blowing so hard that my jacket was coming undone and trying to fly away. It was kind of fun!

I woke up yesterday and worked on a piece of art that I’ve been contemplating. It will have to be a secret until I come home, but I know that it will be well liked! Then I went out in my garden and picked a calla lily. They grow wild here, and I was so excited to see that they are coming into bloom. One of the things that I have always wanted to do was to take photos of them, but I was never able to. I picked one and went and set up the whole lighting set-up in the studio and took photos of this beautiful flower against a black cloth. It was soooo cool. When I was done with that, I was going to give the lily to someone, but I thought that it was so beautiful that I
had to incorporate it into another art. I ended up grabbing another canvas and I sketched it on there for a drawing. I spent a couple of hours then actually starting the painting. It is so beautiful. I took the lily home and it is now in a water bottle (for lack of a vase) on my table. I love it.

A funny anecdote that goes along with that was that I was walking down the street with this flower, and these two men came walking toward me. I looked at them and intended to say hello to them in Greek, but then in English one of them stopped me and said, “Thank you, lady for the flower.” I looked at him very confused and just said, “No, Okhi,” and turned around and walked off. It was pretty odd. I told my friends about it later, and they told me that I had to turn it into a painting as it was a “mythical moment” as we have been discussing in painting. I may just have to do it, as the thought of me looking blankly at an Albanian and saying “NO!” is pretty hilarious!

We went out to dinner last night. Dinner here is much different that at home. Usually they start at about 10:00 and sometimes even start as late as midnight. We went early. We ordered some appetizers. 1 baked mountain greens (they literally pick plants from the countryside and bake them (it wasn’t very good)) 1 Greek salad (full of things I don’t eat, basically only tomatoes and onions) 2 cheese saganaki (this is where they take cheese and fry it with lemon, it is the best thing you will ever taste) 1 feta saganaki (fried feta, damn good stuff), 1 plate of fried calamari (squid, yes, but excellent stuff), 1 plate of chicken (just a plain old meal). 1 plate of fried mushrooms (takes just like steak) and the best of all, a plate of musaka. I have always wanted to try musaka, and I finally did last night. I was so excited about it, it really was incredible. I am now going to learn how to make it because it is just excellent.

After that, we went out and had coffee/hot chocolate. Nice night other than the fact that I almost couldn’t make it home!

Today I read some of the Odyssey, which I am getting close to finishing. I’ll probably be done with it tomorrow. I’m very excited about that. Then I went shopping, which was badly needed. I now have a ton of food. After I write this email, I am going to go and clean the mosaic studio, as the woman is very nice and is letting us use her studio, so we decided to keep it very tidy for her. I’ll probably work on my mosaic some. Then I’m going to go eat dinner. After dinner, there is a talk here by a very incredible man named Peter Abbs. Look him up on the Internet. He is a professor at the University of Sussex, but he feels that education is going in the wrong direction, and he is here checking out the program. He thinks that we are doing education here the right way. He’s a cool guy, and we’re going to listen to him read his poetry, and then we are going to talk about aesthetic education. When that is all over, I am going to finally and at last come and work on some more photography that I have done over the last week. I’m very excited!

So that’s what’s up with me!

Time for me to go…

Chris